Refrigerator latch



Allg- 1935. A, F. WINTERS ET AL 2,010,907

REFRIGERATOR LATCH Original Filed July 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l I madam-T. W'wiers 1935. A. F. WINTERS AL 2,010,907

REFRIGERATOR LATCH Origimil Filed July 6, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' 23 8 27' 8 1:11:5 r l 0 28 a2 0 \n ueh 01s 24 lexanderT Winiers 3 Q 9L &lafl mm 0 of PatentedAug. 13, 1935 l UNITED STATES PAT ' anrmcnns'ron ns'rcn Alexander F. Winters and George Earl De Voe, Grandville, Mich, assignors to Winters 8r Crampton Manufacturing Company, Grandvllle, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application 1111! 6, 1932, Serial No. 620,996 Renewed November 14, 1934 8 Claims. (01. 292-66) This invention relates to refrigerator latches and is concerned primarily with alatch which is to be mounted for concealment between the front and back sides of and adjacent the free vertical 5' edge of a hingedly mounted refrigerator door.

The keeper for the latch bolt is carried on an ad-. Jacent portion of the casing surrounding thedoor opening, which the 'door normally closes, and when the door is closed the only visible parts in connection with .the latch are the operating handle which is to be grasped by one to actuate the latch and disconnect the bolt from its keeper for opening the door.

The present invention has for its objects and purposes the provision and construction of a novel and economical latch which is quickly and readily installed in a door, which is sure in. its operation and which permits no yield of the door when the latch is in operative position to in any degree to break the air tight seal which isprovided between the door and casing when the door is closed and in latched position. Y

- An understanding'of the invention may be had from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a door having the latch of my invention applied thereto, theonly part showing being the operating .handle and its mounting fixture.

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section through a door and the adjacent casing showing the construction of the latch and keeper and the position that the parts take when the door is closed.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a constructive detail of a plate forming one part of the latch construction. a

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 2, showing the handle operated to withdraw the latch bolt.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section and side elevation of the latch, the section being taken through the handle and its mounting fixture, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view illustrating a slight modification in structure.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawings.

The door I is adapted to close a door opening in a casing such as a refrigerator casing, an adjacent portion of the casing at the free edge of the door being indicated at 2. The door has a suitable construction of heat insulating core which in practice is coveredwith metal. That is, at the inner side of the door is a lining 4, continued at the free vertical edgeas an inclined edge section 5. The door has an overlapping flange 6, while at the outer side of the door is a metal covering 1 preferably over a reinforcing plate 8 of metal which strengthens and reinforces heat insulation interior core structure lined and covered with metal and the side of the door opening adjacent the free edge 5 of thedoor is lined with a sheet metal lining 9, which is continued as a covering Hi to the casing. This lining and covering may be finished in any suitable manner as by an enamel paint or porcelain and the flange 6 is provided with a cushion sealing bumper II which bears against the adjacent covering at I when the door is closed to make a completely air tight seal for a refrigerator compartment on closing the door.

At the outer side of the end section a metal plate i2 is secured which has an opening l3 therethrough, the lining 5 back of the opening i3 having a still larger opening therein. A metal plate It paralleling the plate 12 is secured at the adjacent vertical side of the casing at the door opening and a keeper located thereover. The keeper is of sheet metal, as indicated at I5 and has a bolt receiving recess i6 pressed therein, as shown, and the plate I4 is provided with an opening for the recessed portion IE to pass through while the interior core of the casing is cut away to permit the installation of the keeper.

The plate 8 and the outer metal covering 1 have alined openings therein through which the latch is inserted. The latch includes'a stirrup like or U-shaped supporting body having an outer end H from which parallel sides l8 spaced apart from each other extend inwardly. Adjacent theopening l3 and the companion opening in the part 5,

'rods l9 extend between the sides I8 and carry rollers 20, oneadjacent each side of the said openings.

A member of sheet metal having spaced apart arms 21, connected at their outer ends by an integral cross member 22, is located between the sides i8 of the supporting fixture described and is pivotally mounted at an outer corner, asinditcated at 23, so that the same may swingz about the axis of the said pivots. A latch bolt-24, having a recess 24a at its underside and between :its ends is pivotally mounted at one end at 25 to and between the inner ends of the sides 2| described. The latch bolt extends from the'pivot between the rollers 20 and at its outer end passes through the opening in the end 5 and through the opening l3 in the plate 12, and it is so positioned that, projected through said opening, it enters the keeper recess it when the door is closed (Fig. 2).

the door. The casing also may, have any suitable Two T-shaped bars 26 and 21, located in slidable relationship to each other, are disposed between the latch bolt 24 and the outer end ll of the supporting fixture. The enlarged head of one bar 26 rests in a notch in the outer side and substantially midway between the ends of the latch bolt 24, while the head of the other bar 21 seats in a corner formed between the part I1 and an inwardly turned short lip shown in Figs. 2 and 4. A coiled compression spring 28 is located between the heads of said bars under compression, the tendency of which is to move the bar 24 to the position shown in Fig. 2.

The part ll of the supporting fixture is permanently secured, as by spot welding, to a plate 29 substantially rectangular in shape which is sufficiently large to overlap the edges of the opening in front of the door through which the latch is inserted. The plate 29 has a plurality of outwardly extending short sleeves 30 integral therewith located one adjacent each corner of the plate, and also another short guide sleeve 3| of smaller diameter which is located in direct alinement with a similar guide sleeve 32 pressed inwardly from the part ll. These guide sleeves carry a plunger rod 33 the inner end of which bears against the connecting member 22 connecting the spaced sides 2| of the member described.

A housing of sheet metal carrying an operating handle is located over the plate 21. It has a central embossed portion 34 from which flanges 35 extend outwardly with an inturned annular lip around the same. The flanges 35 rest upon the sleeves 30 and hold the housing member away from the porcelain or enamel outer covering I so as not to mar the same, screws as shown in Fig. 5 passing through the flanges 35 and through the openings surrounded by the sleeves 30 whereby the construction is permanently attached to the refrigerator door.

The handle 36 may be made of either sheet metal or of cast metal, preferably of sheet metal, and it has a projection 31 at its inner end extending through a suitable opening in the raised or embossed portion 34 to the sides of which it is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 38. The part 37 has a bearing shoulder 39 to ride against the outer end of the plunger 33, and a suitable shoulder 40 which may bear against one end of the opening in the housing 34 as shown in Fig. 2, being normally held in such position by a spring 4| when the handle is free. I

Instead of the construction just described, the handle 36 may be provided with a projection 31a, the shoulder 40 eliminated, and a suitable projection 42 extended from the part 31 to bear against the plate 29 under the influence of the spring 4| when the handle is free for such movement. This is fully shown in Fig. 6.

With the door closed, as in Fig. 2, it is necessary merely to grasp the handle 36 and pull outwardly on the same whereupon the plunger 3| is moved longitudinally inward against the part 22 swinging it and its connected sides 2| in a counterclockwise direction and withdrawing the bolt 24 which is guided by the rollers 20. The withdrawal of the bolt from the keeper recess l6 frees the door for opening which follows automatically by reason of the outward pull on the handle; and the recess 24 in the bolt comes to the roller 2|] whereupon spring 28 holds the latch bolt in lower position as shown in Fig. 4, the latch bolt being held in retracted position all of the time that the door is open. On closing the door, as in Fig. 4, the outer end of the latch bolt at its inner side strikes against the inner side of the door the tighter the n door will be held closed.

The construction is economical to produce, is easily installed and has proved exceptionally satisfactory in use. The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprel5 hensive of all forms of. structure coming within their scope.

We claim:

1. A latch construction comprising, a support of U-shaped form having spaced apart sides and an outer end connecting said sides, spaced means between said sides of the support, a latch bolt mounted for. movement in the direction of its length between said means, a member pivotally mounted at one end on and located between said sides of the support, said latch bolt having a pivotal connection at its inner end to the other end of said member, and spring means between said latch bolt and the support acting to move the bolt in one direction.

2. A construction containing the elements in combination defined in claim 1, combined with a plate secured to the outer end of said support,

,said plate and end of the support having alined guide sleeves, a plunger rod slidably mounted through said sleeves engaging at its inner end with said member, and a pivotally mounted handle engaged with the outer end of said plunger for operating the same for withdrawing the bolt against the action of the spring means.

3. A latch construction comprising a U-shaped support having spaced apart sides connected at their outer ends by a cross member, a member pivotally mounted at one end on and between the sides of said support, a latch bolt pivotally mounted at one end at the other end of said member, spaced rollers carried on and between said sides of the support between which the latch bolt is guided, spring means between the latch bolt and the outer end of the support acting to normally move the latch bolt outwardly, a plate secured to and over the outer end of said support, said end of the support and plate having openings therein, a plunger rod passing slidably through said openings and engaging at its inner end with said member, a housing having a central outwardly extending embossed portion and lateral flanges lying over said plate, sleeves pressed outwardly from said plate against which the flanges oi said housing bear, and a handle pivotally mounted on and between the sides of the embossed portion of said housing having a shoulder engaging against the outer end of said plunger rod.

4. A latch construction comprising a support having spaced apart sides connected at their outer ends by a cross member, a member pivotally mounted at one end on and between the sides of said support, a latch bolt pivotally mounted at one end at the other end of said member, spaced means carried on and between the sides of said support between which the latch bolt is guided, spring means operative upon the latch bolt acting to normally move the latch bolt outwardly, a guide sleeve on the end of said support, a plunger rod movably passing through the said guide ii sleeve and engaging at its inner end with the said member, and a pivotally mounted handle for actuating the, plunger rod for the purpose described.

5. A latch construction comprising a support 5 having spaced apart sides connected at their outer ends by a cross member, a latch bolt mounted ior movement between the said sides, a plate secured to and over the outer end of said support, said end of the support and the plate having openings therein, -a plunger movably passing through said openings, a housing covering saidv plate, means pivotally mounted within the said housing for actuating said plunger and means mounted between the plunger and the said latch bolt whereby when the plunger is actuated the movement is transferred to the latchbolt.

6. A latch construction of the class described comprising a support, a member pivoted thereon, a latch bolt pivoted to the member, guiding means tor the latch bolt whereby the same is held substantially at right angles to the said member, and spring means acting upon the latch bolt at an angle thereto whereby it is held against said guiding means and pushed axially.

7. In a construction of the class described. having a keeper, the combination 0!, a latch bolt, spaced apart means near one end of the latch bolt for guiding the same, link means pivoted to the other end of the latch bolt, stationary means for pivotally supporting the other end of the said link means, spring means acting upon the latch bolt tending to extend it into the said keeper, said latch bolt having a notch into which one of said spaced means engages when the latch bolt is moved out of said keeper.

8. A latch construction or the class described comprising a support, a member pivoted thereon, a latch bolt pivoted to the member, guiding means for the latch bolt, spring means for urging the latch bolt' in one direction, a guide sleeve rigidly attached to the support, a plunger reciprocable in said guide sleeve, said plunger being snugly received in the sleeve and having one end bearing against the said pivoted member and a pivotally mounted handle for actuating the plunger.

ALEXANDER F. WINTER GEORGE DE VOE. 

